It was inevitable that Graeme Blundell would follow up his biography of Graham Kennedy with a companion piece on Bert Newton.

Simply called BERT, it’s a bright and breezy biography that’s a celebration of a survivor.

From the age of fifteen, in 1954, Newton was the youngest announcer in the history of Melbourne radio when he joined 3XY.

In August 1957, he was signed by Channel 7 as a booth announcer. Later that month, Noel Ferrier, the host of Seven’s the late show, left the program, to be replaced by the 19 year old 3XY disc jockey, Bert Newton, and a television career that was to survive decades was born.

Spanning half a century with gigs on all networks, Newton’s career in Australian television is phenomenal.

His teaming with Graham Kennedy and later Don Lane created two of the most enduring partnerships in the entertainment industry, and his solo efforts as Logies host and compere of GMA remain unsurpassed.

For such a fixture of the fickle business of television, it’s easy to forget his extraordinary achievements, not least being the sheer longevity of his popularity, born of persistence and professionalism.

Blundell’s book serves as a prompt to recall the amazing array of highlights in Bert Newton’s show biz career, not least his enduring marriage to Patti McGrath, theirs the first wedding to be broadcast on Australian television.

Of course there have been letdowns and disappointments as well and Blundell doesn’t shy or dwell on them. In that respect, the book tends to mirror the man, a personality who prefers to accentuate the positive.

His renaissance as a star of musical theatre in recent years seems to have put back any thoughts of retirement and his mellifluous voice and unmistakable delivery is currently on show in Maurice Murphy’s documentary When the Queen Came to Town.

Packed with a terrific pick of pictures – the inside front and back covers are beauties – BERT is a blockbuster summation of why we like the boy.

BERT by Graeme Blundell is published by Hachette in hardcover RRP $45.00